The Bison Men’s basketball team stayed the course in their first-ever NCAA Division I basketball tournament, but in the end Kansas University’s Jayhawks took Friday’s game, 84-74. The teams faced off at the Metrodome in Minneapolis before a crowd of cheering Bison fans. More than half of the stadium appeared to be wearing green and gold.
Scattered through the Memorial Union, faculty and staff cheered, chatted and ate lunch as they watched big screens in Century Theater, the Recreation Center and Great Room. Around campus others watched or listened from their desktop computers. Fargo-Moorhead sports bars were busy, the Holiday Inn sent out an invitation to watch from their lobby, and Labby’s, a sports bar and restaurant near NDSU, was packed with fans cheering their favorite team’s first dance in the NCAA.
After the game hospitality management associate professor Kara Wolfe commented: “It was a close game and it was a great first trip to the NCAA tournament. Go Bison.” A colleague added, “It was a respectable loss. That other team was sweating just as hard.”
North Dakota State was the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Region and Kansas, the defending national champion. The Bison men have garnered widespread national attention since their win over Oakland University to take the Summit League title that propelled them into the NCAA Midwest division playoffs. An announcer at Friday’s game called NDSU “America’s darling” leading up to the game and suggested that the entire state had arrived at the Metrodome to cheer on the team.
Friday’s game was the first NCAA Division I appearance for NDSU and for North Dakota. Audience members at NDSU were confident it won’t be the last.